Fleas

Does anyone know any natural ways to get rid of fleas? I have 5 rescued ferals, 4 of which stay inside, that have fleas. I know they got them from Scraggs,he is a scraggly stray that decided to move in with us. The kittens were born in April and I took them in before the kids in the neighborhood got a hold of them. Two of them I had to hand feed for a while. And one of them wouldn't take to cat food so I had to go weeks mixing her up her own brand of food. They are all healthy now except for the fleas. I really don't like to use chemicals on my animals so I was wondering if anyone knew of a natural way to get rid of them. Thanks for any info.

I've looked around and found a few things...

Neem is available as a shampoo or spray to kill adult fleas. Citronella and other insecticidal herbs such as natural pyrethrum, mullein (Rotenone,) or Canadian fleabane can be prepared as a dip or as powdered herbs to use on the pet as well.

Using diatomaceous earth in the environment (around the house, both inside and out,) borate products inside on carpeted areas, and microscopic beneficial nematodes in the yard (the ONLY thing that also kills the resistant flea coccoon) complete the natural treatment for fleas. While feeding small amounts of fresh garlic and brewer's yeast to the pet have not been shown in controlled studies to be effective, many pet owners swear by their use and continue to add them to the diet to aid in parasite control.

Gentle Touch Flea Drops For Cats, Farnam
All-natural weapon in the battle against fleas. The first and only spot-on that controls fleas on pets with natural ingredients. An effective alternative to chemical flea control products. The two active ingredients (sodium laurel sulfate and citric acid) in Gentle Touch combine to dissolve the fleas' protective outer shell and interfere with their breathing. Kills fleas for up to 4 weeks.

To aid flea-scratching pets, the Tilfords recommend this herbal flea rinse recipe:
1 part feverfew flowers
1 part mullein flowers
1 part yarrow flowers, leaves and stems
1 part grounded celery seeds
3 parts calendula flowers
Place these fresh ingredients in a saucepan containing 2 cups of boiling water. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool. For added flea-flee strength, add 6 to 10 drops of bitter orange essential oil for every 8 ounces of rinse.

This link has a lot of info too:
http://www.holisticat.com/fleas.html

Hope some of this info helps you out...

I will move this to the care and grooming forum where you will likely get more help

A non medicated way to get rid of fleas is:
Bring all kitties into the bath room and close them in with a litter box. Gather all bedding and wash it in the washer and dry with high heat. Vacuum every room of the house including in and under the furniture. Throw away the bag to the vacuum as soon as you have completed the house as fleas will survuve being vacuumed and escape back to the carpet. Bathe each of the cats one at a time with warm water and baby shampoo. Comb out the fur with a flea comb to remove the fleas. I drop the fleas into the toilet and flush them as they may climb out again. Vacuum again every three days for a week making sure to get under all furniture to get any fleas that may hatch oner the next few days. Add ceadar to a pillow case and place with the bedding your kitties sleep on. This is a natural bug repelent. For kittens too small to bathe I hold them over the tub and blow the fleas off with a blow dryer set on high heat. BE VERY CAREFUL not to burn the kittens! The heat hyperactivates the fleas and they jump off. Wash the fleas down the drain using hot hot water.

When we found our little Tinky, she was only 2 weeks old and too young for flea medications, but COVERED in fleas.

We gave her a bath and washed off what we could. Then we let her rest (she was squeaking horribly) and then got Ivory dishwashing soap and starting at her neck, rubbed her entire body down with it, making sure to create some suds. We had her sit for about 2 minutes like that, and then we washed her off.

The suds suffocate the fleas and they fall off into the water. We'd drown them in the water and then flush them. While she was drying, we'd get tweezers and pick off the fleas that we could see (they're easier to see when she's wet). We gave her 4 of these baths in the first few days we had her and got most of them.

We kept watch on her and had to give her about a bath a week, along with picking fleas off her when we saw them. We'd use a flea comb to brush her and pick them off with tweezers. We now use Advantage, which is applied once a month on the back of her neck, and it's worked wonderfully. We haven't seen fleas in 2 months (as long as she's been taking it).

We bought some spray from Walgreens that was supposed to kill fleas. We vacuumed the carpet and sprayed everywhere. Minus a few that we found right after cleaning her, we haven't had a problem.

Hope this helps!